Perchtenlauf (Mallnitz, Kärnten) Photos

Happy New Year / Prosit Neujahr!

I've got a backlog of photos, but I want to jump ahead and get this batch online immediately.

Last week I travelled by train to Mallnitz, Carinthia (Kärnten), in the mountains south of Salzburg with my mom, 3 siblings and brother's girlfriend (Bina). We met Christian and Connie, an awesome Australian/Austrian pair of friends of ours, there. At least 30cm (1 foot) of snow had fallen in Mallnitz that day, and it continued to fall through the night. Some of our crew stayed in an old, working farmhouse; the rest of us in Connie's parents' new vacation apartment (thanks Christian, Connie and Herr und Frau B!).

These pictures are of the Perchtenlauf, a cool festival thrown in Mallnitz the night we were there. The characters are called Perchten, and the festival originates in pre-Christian German / Norse mythology. The Perchten seem to spring from a legend about Freya, the goddess queen and wife of Odin / Wotan. The Perchten were ghosts who came out around New Year's Eve. Their job was to protect order in society. They could see into souls and would punish children who were disobedient or disorderly.

The masks are usually made from hand-carved wood and animal horns. The costumes are made from animal skins and fur. The Perchten carry whips, which they use to punish bad people they find along the run. I got a couple of whips. They didn't hurt, but they weren't light, either.

Perchten groups from different regions of Austria participated in this Perchtenlauf. There were several distinct styles of Perchten on display. Also, the Germans do a Perchtenlauf, but it looks a bit different than this one.

I've found some good links and info on the Perchten, much of it in German. I'll try to caption these and get some good links online quickly.

Blowing fire.

More pyrotechnics. The security guards confiscated a dangerous-looking burning scepter from one Perchten, and promptly threw it into the town's creek. This guy, however, was allowed to roam wild.

I don't know about you, but putting something scary on a scooter usually dampens the scare-factor for me.

Most of the Perchten wore large bells. They were pretty adept at moving around so the bells would ring loudly.

Christian in the middle, Connie with the light brown jacket on his right (left in the picture).

The tall one in the center is Craig, my younger brother.

Spooky.

A closeup of the hair used in the costumes. They were pretty elaborate.

Each Perchta had a number on his costume. The numbers were used for identification, in case any of the Perchten got out of hand.

I believe this is a female Perchta.

The Perchten would range out amongst the onlookers, seeking people who deserved punishment.

A few of the Perchten wrestled with bystanders. Some would heave smaller victims onto their shoulders and run off into the darkness with them. The firemen standing to the left were there for the crowd's protection.

I found a few sizeable bloodstains in the snow after the festivities died down.

These masks looked totemic to me. They struck me as more original than some of the more detailed, gruesome masks on display.

Keep in mind that during the actual Perchtenlauf, you couldn't see the faces of the people wearing the masks. You're only able to see them in these pictures because I was using a flash. The masks were considerably spookier when you couldn't see the person underneath.

Sort of like this.

Dancing Perchten...

"Could you please speak up? The dogs of hell are running loose just behind me."

Another innocent partygoer falls victim to the Perchten.

The Perchten don't look as scary without their masks.

We got lots of snow that evening.

Bloodstain (for posterity).

(Unpaid) commercial announcement: Drink Stiegl, it's better than your beer.